Chapter 386: Miss Xia, Would You Like to Buy a Copy?

Chapter 386: Chapter 386: Miss Xia, Would You Like to Buy a Copy?

After seeing Da Ya off, Xiaqing, Sheep Leader, and Sick Wolf stood by the chicken coop, looking at the 22 chickens inside. Even though 11 of them were being fostered for Zhang San, Xiaqing was still incredibly happy.

"Leader, we have Green Light fertilizer now. Next year, we’ll sprinkle some on your pasture too, to make the grass grow more lushly."

Sheep Leader squinted, staring at the many new chickens in the coop. He seemed to be inspecting something, his expression serious.

"Second, we have 19 hens now. I’ll boil an egg for you tonight." ’With ten chickens in their peak laying period, we can collect at least six or seven eggs a day. The nine older hens might occasionally lay one or two more... That’s more than enough for me and Sick Wolf. If the broken leg wolf’s little sister, who’s recovering in the Wolf Cave, behaves well, she can also have one or two once in a while.’

Xiaqing chuckled as she stared at a particularly conspicuous white-feathered hen. "I’ll eat the eggs laid by Little White. I’m the main fighting force of our territory, so I need to stay in peak condition at all times."

Sick Wolf grinned, laughing heartily.

More chickens meant more grain and vegetables would be consumed.

Xiaqing had just traded 400 jin of Green Light Rice with Yang Jin. This fall, she had also harvested 200 jin of mung beans and 750 jin of corn. To build the enclosure wall, she had asked Kuang Qingwei to help her sell a bag of corn, and now she had over 600 jin left. This amount of grain was enough for Xiaqing, Sheep Leader, Sick Wolf, and the Green Light Chickens.

Now that the weather was turning cold, the tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and pumpkins were no longer bearing fruit and needed to be pulled up. The only vegetables still growing in the greenhouse in any significant quantity were napa cabbage and sweet potato leaves. The other varieties only had a few or a dozen plants left, which needed to be saved for seed.

In July, Xiaqing had planted a total of 250 cabbage seeds. Among them, 100 Green Light Cabbage seeds were from a trade with Zhang San, and 150 Yellow Light Cabbage seeds were from a trade with the Territory Management Department. All the Green Light Cabbage seeds were planted in the terraced fields, while the Yellow Light Cabbage seeds were split evenly between the terraced fields and the vegetable greenhouse.

The Yellow Light Cabbage seeds Xiaqing had traded for were only stable for two generations. The third Harmful Rain this year was particularly severe. Of the Yellow Light Cabbage planted in the greenhouse on the arable land, only 10 plants survived to form heads. The terraced fields, nurtured by Pollution-free Spring Water, were in slightly better condition, with 35 Green Light and 40 Yellow Light Cabbages remaining.

The tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and pumpkins in the vegetable storeroom were all Xiaqing’s own food; she couldn’t bear to use them to feed the chickens.

Therefore, she had to build the greenhouse for growing vegetables and raising chickens as soon as possible.

After eating and feeding the chickens, Xiaqing picked cotton while thinking that since she had finished sowing the wheat and rapeseed, it was time to put building the greenhouse on the agenda.

The bolls on the cotton plants matured and split open first on the lower fruiting branches, then gradually moved upward. Now, the bolls on the top branches were beginning to mature and crack open, revealing soft, pale-yellow cotton.

Xiaqing had already tilled the land and planted the wheat and rapeseed, so she wasn’t in a hurry to clear the cotton field. She planned to wait until all the bolls had matured, then pull up the cotton plants, dry them, and take them home to use as firewood.

After picking the cotton in the greenhouse, Xiaqing went to harvest the Qiang Evolution black cotton near the Deserted Village. That was all the farm work for the afternoon.

Xiaqing had Sheep Leader carry the cotton home on his back while she shouldered a shovel and wandered around her territory, looking for soil suitable for building the greenhouse’s earthen walls.

The other Lords were at a similar stage, all considering building greenhouses.

Mrs. Zhao asked, "Where is everyone planning to build their greenhouses? Would it be better to be near the Buffer Forest? The winter winds are strong, and the Buffer Forest could block them."

Zhu Li from No. 6 Territory replied, "Old Kuang is leading people to work on the thorn wall. We’re also planning to build on the south side of the river channel, as close to the hillside as possible."

Mother Shi responded, "Our territory doesn’t have a hillside, so we’re planning to build the greenhouse’s earthen walls thicker. Little Qi, are you there? How thick are you guys planning to build your earthen walls?"

Qi Fu was probably busy, so it was Yuan Yan who came online. "Yesterday’s broadcast said 80 centimeters would be enough. But our territory doesn’t have a protective wall around it, so the winter winds will definitely be stronger than in the Safe Zone, and the temperature will be a few degrees lower. We’re planning to build the walls one meter thick, with the north wall being 3.5 meters high."

"Then we’ll build our walls 1.1 meters thick. A little more effort now means fewer worries in the winter." After making her decision, Mother Shi asked Xiaqing, "Qing, what about you?"

Xiaqing replied, "I’ll build mine to the dimensions Sister Yan mentioned."

"Xiaqing has the best location. She’s got mountains to the northwest, and the winter winds blow from the northeast," Zhu Li said with envy, then added, "Everyone, for the greenhouse walls, are you using pure earth or brick and earth?"

This was a technical question, so Yuan Yan answered, "We’re thinking of laying bricks on the outside and using earth on the inside. That way it’ll be rainproof, and the greenhouse will last a couple more years."

Mrs. Zhao asked, "What about the method mentioned on the broadcast yesterday, covering the earthen walls with greenhouse plastic film or rainproof cloth? Wouldn’t that work?"

Yuan Yan wasn’t sure either. "That would probably work too. I was just thinking of using the broken bricks we dug out of the ruins to save on plastic film and rainproof cloth."

Mother Shi replied, "You’re right, every little bit saved helps. I have two pieces of rainproof cloth that were damaged by Qiang Evolution potato vines and sunflower plants, which I can use."

"That’s a good idea too. Rainproof cloth is definitely a better insulator than a brick wall," Yuan Yan replied.

The planting expert, Li Si, came online. "Plastic film and rainproof cloth aren’t breathable. Earthen walls covered with them will need to be disinfected regularly, or they will breed large amounts of bacteria and harmful insects."

Hearing that Li Si had come online, everyone was stunned into silence for a few seconds.

Evolved bacteria, though too small to be seen with the naked eye, were creatures even more terrifying than large Evolved Fierce Beasts, and impossible to guard against. Mrs. Zhao quickly asked, "Fourth Sister, given our conditions here, how often would be appropriate to disinfect?"

Li Si gave a very precise reply, "There’s no fixed number. It must be determined based on a comprehensive consideration of the environmental conditions and test results inside the greenhouse."

It was a very typical Li Si-style answer. Mrs. Zhao didn’t understand, so she decided to just build a brick wall instead.

Xiaqing began to count silently: 1, 2, 3...

Right on cue, Assistant Liu from No. 9 Territory came online. "Fellow Lords, growing vegetables and grains in a greenhouse is very different from open-field cultivation. Our territory has an exclusive, patented ’Greenhouse Plant Cultivation Guide’. As long as you follow the instructions in the Guide, you are guaranteed to significantly increase your yield. Each Guide is only 600 points."

’There it is!’ Xiaqing snapped her fingers and continued digging a pit with her shovel, searching for clay.

Seeing that no one else was speaking up, Zhu Li started pleading poverty. "Assistant Liu, it’s not that we don’t want to buy it. We just harvested our grain, but we need to buy composting bacteria powder, enclose the thorn wall, and build a greenhouse. We really don’t have enough points."

Assistant Liu responded politely, "Ms. Zhu, I will report your situation to our Lord. If there’s a price reduction, I’ll come online and notify you. Miss Xia, would you like to buy a copy?"

Xiaqing frowned. ’Didn’t No. 9 Territory hear that I was so poor I had to sell grain? What does Assistant Liu mean by singling me out?’

Standing in a pit over a meter deep, Xiaqing replied icily, "Assistant Liu, I only managed to scrape together enough points for the wall by selling my grain. Right now, I don’t even have enough points for composting bacteria powder, let alone enough to afford your territory’s expensive Guide."